2002 SATURN VUE

GM says that "popularly-equipped" Vues will range from $24,570 to $28,918, that all those prices include the $830 destination freight charges and the $100 air conditioning tax, and that production will begin in November for customer ordering by the end of the year or early in 2002.

For a lot of people — thousands of them, actually — that will be all they need to know to make them buy a Vue. Well, that and the fact that it's good looking, but even that's not that critical to people who really don't want to visit a regular dealership.

But there are other people in the market for a sport-cute who should find the Vue appealing for the fact that  — regardless of the dealer experience — it's a fine little car.

Under a promise to keep driving impressions to myself until November 1, I can't go into too many specifics, but I will tell you that you won't have to put up with the Vue in order to enjoy the Saturn encounter. This vehicle stands on its own and would be worth having with any car company name on it.

You don't even have to drive the Vue to appreciate it; you only need to climb into it. Right off you can feel that Saturn succeeded in its goal to make a car that's easy to get into and spacious for everyone save the person who ends up in the middle seat in the back.

The interior's well laid out, the controls are easy to reach, and the seats are good. Four of the seats fold down, by the way, as part of Saturn's effort to make Vue as versatile as possible. They've succeeded there, as well.